Tuesday, November 25, 2014

It was an odd delight to have to choose a favourite villain in literature. Reading the choices made by fellow contributors has, to an extent, brilliantly confused rather than dully clarified my thoughts. Are we talking about the scope of their megalomania – a Sauron or an Ahab? Or is it the nastiness of their behaviour – a Patrick Bateman or a Humbert Humbert? Or is it the slyness of their villainy – Bertha from Jane Eyre or Mrs Danvers from Rebecca? Henry de Montherlant observed that “happiness writes in white ink on white paper”, and it’s certainly true that villainy thrills on the page in a manner decency struggles to realise. (Stuart Kelly)

Weighing in on the gender imbalance debate, this reader ofThe Sydney Morning Herald is not quite so sure about Wuthering Heights for a reason:

Bronte makes us ask the eternal question. The gender imbalance notwithstanding, I'm all for the dumping of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, if only to save any future teacher the inevitable embarrassment of not being able to respond to some student's query as to the meaning of "wuthering" ("Gender imbalance in HSC English book lists criticised", November 24).
David Grant (Ballina)

In the CD player of my car is the audiobook for “Wuthering Heights,” the classic novel by Emily Brontë. [...]"Wuthering” is a novel powerful enough to have withstood the test of time and remain as one of the greatest love stories in the history of literature. [...]
Don’t skip Brontë. Books like “Wuthering” are the meat and potatoes for a well-rounded reader. (Stephen Alexander)